Valkyrie Drive: Mermaid

Well this episode answers the question, can a girl transform into their weapon at the most inappropriate time. Apparently, yes.

edited 21st Nov '15 3:49:45 PM by mega-dark

I've been a lot of criticism over the way the show has handled Mamori and gotta say, the whole thing is being blown out of proportion

She really doesn't treat Akira differently and compared with Mirei, their interactions are clearly on the "Just friends" range.

Mamori didn't blushed when holding hands with Akira unlike the time she did with Mirei, she got involved on the hostage situation out of concern and sense of duty and she didn't even made a fuzz about driving when seeing Akira for the first time.

What is more, after beating the bad guys her first (and only) concern was Mirei's well-being.

She did kissed Akira but is just like when Rain kissed Mirei (and the characters even point it out).

edited 21st Nov '15 6:26:11 PM by Tzitzimine

Okay, I'm not sure what the point of pretending Akira is a guy is. Like, from a story-telling perspective

Otherwise, this conflict is surprisingly grey. The various sides all have decent points

Probably so either Momoka and/or Charlotte can stage a coup by exposing her secret and thus, making Velter to lose faith on their leader.

You know, you think one of these girls would try to build a boat.

Forcefield

Why build one? Chances are there's a boat exstar around.

Akira being a girl all long wasn't a surprise, but that's a rather impressive case of Hidden Buxom she's got.

Her backstory is pretty sad all things considered, and I didn't expect her Extar to be artificial. I hope she see's her mother again.

Mamori transforming just from seeing Akira naked is both hilarious and telling of her. I've made it clear in the past that I don't care if Mamori hooks up with Akira at the end.

I'd say that Mamori's last shred of heterosexuality went down in flames this week.

@ Hylarn The reason Akira is hiding as a man is for group dynamic and power reasons. Being a "male" makes her unique and instantly puts her on top of the food chain. She effectively keeping the peace by being a figure head. Of course sometimes that's not enough.

Yes, that's the reasoning given in-universe, but it doesn't say anything about her character, has had no real effect on the plot, and isn't a surprise to the viewer. It is kind of pointless as a plot element so far

Really, if they want to get on the island they just need to get on a boat, sail out to one of those things sticking out of the sea that clearly generate the forcefield, and smash it. I'm pretty sure they could muster the firepower.

Colour me intrigued. Looks like the plot's picking up.

I'm gonna assume the government's got some kind of monitoring system and would know if they were successful in destroying the force field

Yes, and?

And would probably send some kind of force after them if they tried.

Good.

https://animeter.webnewtype.com/program/0000875286/

Now you guys can have Tokonome's voice on your smartphone!

Anyone else thinking that The Ladies know Akira's true identity? The way they just appeared to pick up Meifeng right before Akira stepped out of the cave was quite suspicious.

Speaking of true identities, if Charlotte manages to find out Akira's true gender... *gulp*

Yeah, that is almost certainly going to happen because it's too good a plotbomb to pass up.

Yeah, I mean it's pretty damn obvious SOMEONE is gonna find out and raise a stink about it, and Charlotte is the obvious candidate, so...

Charlotte is pretty much building up to being The Starscream. It would be more surprising if she wasn't ultimately the Big Bad than if she was.

I don't know, Charlotte's...well, she's a bitch, but I don't think she's powerful/intimidating enough for that. Or mysterious. I could easily see it going the other way with Charlotte getting Pet the Dog moments and a sympathetic side, while remaining an inconvenience until the end.

I believe that Momoka will be the "Big Bad" of the series. If only because interviews and her own profile states that she will only stirr conflict after her arrival.

So what is the opinion on Mamori? I've seen a lot of hate thrown at her on other boards due this episode.

Otaku and a good deal of western fans will always call female characters like Mamori a slut for one reason or another, so they should be ignored.

My own opinion of her is steadily improving. She stopped being a wet blanket pretty soon which was my biggest problem with her, and I have no negative opinions on her infatuation with Akira.

edited 24th Nov '15 12:26:08 PM by VeryMelon